Kundalini, was Intellectual dishonesty!

[Guest guest]

Hi Greg,

>A side question about Kundalini teachings, a tradition I hardly know

>anything about.

 

Kundalini is not a tradition. It is powerful energy. "Kundalini" means

"she who is coiled," which refers to it uncoiling and rising like a serpent

from the center at the base of the spine. We all have Kundalini in our

bodies, and some people are aware of working with it on non-physical

levels, in meditation, healing, etc. When it manifests in the _physical_

body, that is when we say it has become active... thus Dr. Lee Sannella

refers to it as the "physio-kundalini."

 

When the K. is activated, it rises up the central channel of the spine

through the major centers along the spine and in the head. Any blockage -

and everyone will have some - to its rising must be cleared away... the

channel must be cleansed. Some people, when the energy is new and not too

strong, can reverse the process and allow it to quiet down again,

postponing its rising for another time. But most people have no choice.

This is a genie that cannot be put back into the bottle! It has "a mind of

its own," and you can achieve some measure of "control" only by learning to

work with it... not against it. Jung said it is an autonomous process

that arises from the deep unconscious and seems to use the individual as

its vehicle. Muktananda said it is Shakti herself, manifesting in and

through the individual. The name used does not have to be Sanskrit... we

are not talking mythology here. By whatever name men may give it, this is

the energy of consciousness as it manifests in the physical.

 

Kundalini yoga _is_ a tradition, and there are many others relating to and

using Kundalini. The Tibetans distinguish between two kinds of traditions

or lineages... Sutra, which uses the "sky path" methods of reading holy

works, prayer, etc., and Tantra (or Mantra), of which Sexual Tantra is only

a small part. All of Tantra, both the usual Completion Stage and the

Extraordinary Practices (Yogas), uses Kundalini. The Taoists call it

"Chi"... Mantak Chia says, "Chi, also known as prana, the warm current,

Kundalini power, or the electro-magnetic life force..." and notes that

"Chi" is the Chinese word for "breath." In translations of Tibetan texts,

Kundalini is usually "the wind(s)" in the central channel.

>If the ego goes rampant during the processing of Kundalini

>- is this related to the teaching in that tradition?

 

What happens in that regard is independent of any teaching, though some

methods may be given that help. I have a post coming on Kundalini

psychosis that will go into that.

> Does the teaching say

>that something very profound is going on, and that the person is really

>progressing?

 

Dr. Sannella agrees with Gopi Krishna that "the kundalini is a fundamental

evolutionary mechanism underlying all psychic and spiritual phenomena." In

1932 Jung and colleagues stated that Kundalini activation was unknown in

the Western world... meaning except for those who went to the East to

study with teachers. Since then, the picture has changed. Many people in

the West have active kundalini, and it is occurring spontaneously to people

who know nothing of it and have no preparation. Authorities disagree on

the cause of this "epidemic." I see it as confirmation of Teilhard's view

that we are in the middle of a leap in evolution.

>For example, one lady told me that in her yogic practice,

>there are "kriyas," spontaneous releases of energy.

 

The word "kriya" means an action or movement. In the context of the

phenomena of active Kundalini, it means _spontaneous_ actions or

movements... these are not actions done purposefully by the individual...

they _happen_ to him.

>Kriyas could manifest as barks of

>>a dog or meows of a cat, etc.

 

Or in the person performing the positions and movements of Hatha Yoga, even

when he knows nothing at all of Hatha Yoga... when he later sees a picture

in a book, he will recognize that that was what he did. Or in spontaneous

and mind-blowing orgasms... K-active people have been known to have

orgasmic kriyas at the office in plain view of other people.

> Each kriya represents

>a burning of karma trapped in the body. Kriyas could manifest as barks of

>a dog or meows of a cat, etc. If you manifest a kriya on the august

>holiday of Shivaratri, then each round of chanting and each kriya counts

>5,000 times as much, burns 5,000 times as much karma, as it would on any

>other day. So there was a lot of ego investment in how much was being

>burned up.

 

The lady misunderstood... or else you misunderstood her. The kind of

kriya that would be prescribed to perform with chanting especially on a

holy day would be an intentional action or movement, _not_ the spontaneous

kriyas of the Kundalini process.

 

The exception would be that it is possible to learn how to trigger the kind

of kriya in which Kundalini zips up the central channel or sushumna,

through the head center(s), and out through crown chakra, carrying with it

whatever blockage was ready to go. This is a powerful tool for cleansing

karmic stuff, which is what the blockage consists of.

>She had the sense that some people would force it and fake it

>and bring it on themselves, to look impressive to others. I saw some of

>the same attachments in the Pentacostal church, people faking the speaking

>in tongues.

 

How would you know?

>One church down the block from mine even taught courses and

>gave diplomas in the art!!

 

I attended such a course with a young friend who wanted me to understand

what kind of group and practice he was into. They were _not_ teaching

people how to fake anything! First they had to convince people that it was

possible, that it could happen, and it could happen to them! Then they

explained the process of relaxation and complete surrender in faith that

can make possible an eruption from the unconscious... or from "the

spirit." In the 4th and final class, we all stood and were directed in

some meditation... and then it was time for us all to speak in tongues,

all at once, together... which certainly helped with any shyness or "stage

fright," because we knew everyone would be doing it and no one was going to

be hearing what came out of any particular person's mouth. To my surprise,

I did it too! But don't ask me what I said. ) What came out of my mouth

sounded like speech in some language, though I can't prove anything... I

wasn't recording. There was repetition, as in some African languages, I

think... and there were tones; it sounded to some extent like a tonal

language.

 

It can be taught, just as techniques for raising and using Kundalini can be

taught. It is easy to bring about the rising of someone's Kundalini if

he's ready, but very difficult and maybe impossible if he isn't ready.

 

In _Kundalini Experience_ Lee Sannella, who is an M.D., gives many case

histories and personal accounts... an excellent book for those who are new

to Kundalini. In an appendix he gives Itzhak Bentov's seminal article on

laboratory studies of the Kundalini process. I was going to send it to

you, but I think maybe it's time to share it with the whole list... so

here it comes, with 3 attachments showing the diagrams and drawings.

 

Love,

Dharma